Packers Daily Links: Graham Harrell Works on Getting Stronger
The Packers backup quarterback has been working out with a personal trainer in Texas this offseason. That and more in today's Daily Links...
Packers quarterback Graham Harrell spent his offseason working out with trainer Bobby Stroupe in Texas, reports Wes Hodkiewicz of the Green Bay Press-Gazette in a feature published Monday. "It’s resulted in Harrell trying to improve two of his main weaknesses entering the league — athleticism and arm strength, which also are the most recognizable characteristics of his primary competition, the 6-foot-3 (B.J.) Coleman," writes Hodkiewicz. Last year, Harrell had the edge over Coleman in experience and the touch on his passes. This year, however, those edges would appear to becoming less prominent by the day. Coleman will make a major push for Harrell's No. 2 job this summer.
A feature on running back Alex Green was published at the Packers official website on Monday, which focused on the competition at his position and training camp. “It’s going to be very competitive,” Green is quoted as saying by writer Mike Spofford. “Every back on the roster is capable of being a contributor to the offense, from the drafted to free agents. It’s going to be good for everybody. It’s going to push everybody in the backfield to get better.” Green is going to find himself in a similar boat as Harrell, being pushed by younger players. When the Packers took rookies Eddie Lacy and Johnathan Franklin in the NFL Draft in April, they made a statement that they're only going to be keeping backs that will be difference makers in the offense.
Linebacker Brad Jones was named as the eighth most important Packer of 2013 by FoxSportsWisconsin.com. "General manager Ted Thompson believes in Jones a great deal," writes Paul Imig. "Jones was an unrestricted free agent earlier this offseason and was garnering a lot of interest from other NFL teams. But Thompson didn't want to let Jones get away, signing him to a three-year, $11.75 million deal. That is not the type of money that the Packers could afford to give to a player that they view as a backup. That is the contract of an NFL starter."
The Packers official website started an online campaign to vote for quarterback Aaron Rodgers to win an ESPY award.
Linebacker Terrell Manning talked to the Fayetteville Observer, near his hometown in North Carolina.
Wide receiver Jordy Nelson will make an appearance at the premiere of his Wisconsin tourism commercial, as noted at Lombardi Ave.
A trio of blog posts on linebacker Desmond Bishop appear at AllGreenBayPackers.com and Lombardi Ave., twice.
Articles are published at Packer Report on the running game and a countdown of the top Packers on the roster.
Discussion on Aaron Rodgers and the Top 10 Packers storylines appear at Lombardi Ave.
Video: ESPN picks up on recent comments made by former Packer Gary Knafelc critical of the NFL and the players' union...
Brian Carriveau is the author of the book "It's Just a Game: Big League Drama in Small Town America," and editor of Cheesehead TV's "Pro Football Draft Preview." To contact Brian, email [email protected].
Comments (11)
July 02, 2013 at 10:33 am
Awesome. He can't run and he can't throw. Lets just keep him, Rodgers won't get hurt. Hope your correct TT, otherwise you'll be begging Jeff Garcia, Warner, and other old farts to give it one last try. Yeah I didn't mention old # 4 but he would be an upgrade over Harrell
July 02, 2013 at 01:01 pm
I'd guess that Coleman is a better pro prospect than GH, but why do so many have such hate for Harrell? He's only played sparingly in a handful of games and only has four pass attempts. How can you judge based solely on that?
Was it the fumbled hand-off after the o-lineman stepped on his foot in his back-peddle? Is that what bothers everyone? Truth is, we don't know what kind of QB he can be, because he just hasn't played enough(you could say the same thing about ARod when Brent was still here). In fact, if I went with first impressions, I don't know what I would have thought about ARod's chances. His throwing speed was average at best and when he did play, the results were at best mixed.
In addition, Harrell had a very productive collegiate career, was the Texas player of the year(and they have decent players in Texas) in high school.
I took this from the GB website about his senior year at Texas Tech: Senior season (2008): Named the AT&T All-America Player of the Year and also was an AFCA first-team All-American, the first Tech QB to earn All-America status on any team since Jerry Kirkpatrick in 1953…Named Co-National Player of the Year by Sporting News and received the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm award, given annually to the nation’s top senior QB…Finished fourth in the voting for the Heisman Trophy…Named AT&T’s All-America Player of the Week four times on the season, the most of any player in college football…Led the nation with 5,111 passing yards on 442-of-626 passing (70.6 percent)…Threw 45 TD passes with just nine INTs, and led the nation with an average of 393.1 passing yards per game…Led Tech to a Cotton Bowl appearance and an 11-2 record, only the third 11-win season in school history…
At this stage of his career, I doubt if Harrell is going to be a star, but with all the haters out there, I leaning toward him to win the back-up job. Nothing against Coleman(we have no idea about him either).
July 02, 2013 at 02:37 pm
You've offered an extremely selective analysis of Harrell, all of his HS & college exploits... The dude is 28 years old & last played college football in 2008... Why not mention what he's accomplished since 2008?..
My guess, he'll be looking for a new day-job come September.
July 02, 2013 at 04:38 pm
He has very little NFL experience to analyze. A good part of that is he was playing behind an established backup in Flynn, who himself was playing behind a potential HOF QB in Aaron (who thankfully has rarely been hurt). Until very late in his career we really didn't have much to judge Flynn on. Even less so for Harrell.
My overall point is how strange it is to me that so many fan-experts judge him to be pond-scum when they really have nothing to base it on. The purpose of HS and college mentions is to give you an idea at one time he had game. Whether he does now, we may never know because of our good fortune with ARod. And speaking of ARod, I bet there were a lot of fans, if they were honest, who early in Rodgers career with GB didn't think very highly of him and thought he would tank.
I think Harrell has the potential to be like Hasselback, weak-to-average arm, so-so athlete but good game manager. Not the worst QB to have on your roster. But again, I don't know what Harrell can do, because he's been in a situation with very little opportunities. And you don't know either.
July 02, 2013 at 06:19 pm
JakeK,
You're taking a very narrow look at Harrell's accomplishments since 2008, but let's take a look. After being ignored by the idiots who pose as NFL scouts and pick true winners like say, Jamarcus Russell, he humbly tried out for the genius coaching staff at Cleveland who picked a true winner in Colt McCoy. He was then picked up by the CFL who took him only for the return on investment knowing some NFL team would remove their head from their nether region and take a chance on him. Enter Mike McCarthy. Yes, McCarthy who works with Harrell everyday of the week, "20 hours a day" in his words, and says "Harrell has improved every single season. I think he's definitely taken another step this offseason," yada, yada, yada. Enter Aaron Rodgers. Rodgers says only great things about Harrell's development and compares him to Matt Flynn at this stage of his career. But JakeK who sits on the armchair has a better grasp of where Harrell is and the potential he has to be great? Face it. You're a Harrell-hater and anything you say is completely irrelevant because it's based on your emotional opinions of Harrell. not the reality of what he's accomplished...since 2008. Sad really.
July 02, 2013 at 01:57 pm
Really? You've reduced the article to mean "he can't run and he can't throw"?
Wow... *smh*
July 02, 2013 at 03:40 pm
Yep. Have you watched him in preseason action, looks like a fish out of water. Has the body type of a weak kicker. 2 main weaknesses : "athleticism and arm strength". Thats the equivialent of having a lineman on your team whose main weaknesses are his size and strength. Not good!
July 02, 2013 at 04:41 pm
A "weakness" does not mean he is completely inept in those areas... it means those are the areas he has the most to work on compared to the rest. Plus, neither you nor I have seen him in preseason in 2013... so you're making your judgements on something from 10 months ago.
Frankly, I'd rather have a QB with better accuracy than arm strength. The former is much easier to correct.
July 02, 2013 at 10:02 pm
We saw him in preseason last year, and he looked pretty damn weak. Arm strength, athleticism, & decision-making were all lacking. Then there was the clown act in the NO game. The time and resources used for Harrell's continued non-development would be better spent on someone else.
Just because the guy wears green & gold doesn't mean he's any good.
July 02, 2013 at 04:23 pm
It'll be interesting to see what Brad's gonna bring to the table. Heck, what Dom is going to bring, in general. I found Cow's comment a short time ago to be very intriguing in regards to Claymaker coming inside on certain packages and Neal jumping back to OLB.
Braun under pressure, Hart gone for the season...is it Packer season, yet?
July 02, 2013 at 11:52 pm
Didn't Harrell do this strength upgrade last year? That seems like more than a "relative" weakness.